Harukage
The Harukage (春, , Literally meaning: Spring Shadow) is the of Harugakure, the title bestowed upon the leader of the village. The Harukage was originally chosen by the people and is generally considered the strongest shinobi in the village. However, this ended with the First Harukage's reign to which the line became hereditary. Due to this, Harugakure encountered several dark ages as strong Kages gave way to weak Kages. There have been seven Harukage in the village's history. In the alternate timeline that is Naruto: Shingetsu, the village has eight Harukage. Overview The Harukage position did not exist when Harugakure was founded. In fact, Harugakure is one of the oldest villages in the ninja world, possibly dating back to the time of . It was not until the neared its conclusion did the position of Harukage appear. At first, the person to be Harukage was elected by the people. However, soon after Tsunemitsu Sanjō took charge, the post of Harukage would become hereditary, passing on to the eldest heir. Tsunemitsu's change from elected to hereditary was influenced by when he stumbled upon Harugakure in search of a suitable place to hide the phoenixes his clan had made a contract with. Tsunemitsu agreed to the terms which were: #The Forest of Resplendent Flames is the new place of residence for the phoenix. #The location of the Forest is to be kept a closely guarded secret between the three clans (in this case, Uchiha, Yumia and Haru). #Any person from the three clans may enter the Forest and seek instruction under the phoenixes. :#If an Uchiha were to ask for guidance, the current Harukage at that time must first have the said Uchiha prove their lineage by showing the Sharingan. :#If unable to, it may just be dormant. In this case, a genetic test is performed to determine their bloodline. Aside from this pact, the Harukage is in charge of the village's day-to-day affairs, such as assigning the village's ninja to missions or securing funding for the village's projects and personnel. The Harugakure spends most of their time in the village, only traveling abroad for events of vital importance to Harugakure. This isn't always true as the Harukage also has the duty of being the vanguard when leading the village to war. The Harukage's code of chivalry is the Rule of Spring, similar to the 's . This code teaches that no matter what kind of deeds the Harukage has to commit, the village must remain fruitful. List of Harukage First Harukage Tsunemitsu Sanjō (三条恒光, Sanjō Tsunemitsu) is a member of the Yumia Clan. This is the name he is known by in the history books. His original name is unknown. He is famed for striking a deal between his clan, the (namely ), and the Haru. Under his guidance, Harugakure grew in size. Tsunemitsu reigned for a total of 16 years. He lost his life and was one of the first deaths in the . His daughter would immediatetly take his post. Second Harukage Tsuneme Sanjō (三条箇音目, Sanjō Tsuneme) is the daughter of Tsunemitsu and reigned during the bloody world war that was the . The village was very far to the west and was left virtually untouched but the shinobi of Harugakure fought in the war because of agreements with other villages that were being invaded by still other villages. Tsuneme was killed in action after encountering 's after said unit had managed to kill . Third Harukage Haname Sanjō (三条花愛, Sanjō Haname) is the daughter of Tsuneme and the granddaughter of Tsunemitsu. She reigned during the closing stages of the First Shinobi World War, saw through the twenty-year peace, only to have Harugakure involved in the . Harugakure and constantly clashed in this war. Haname would eventually almost defeat only to be cleverly tricked by him and killed. Fourth Harukage Sadatake Sanjō (三条貞長, Sanjō Sadatake) is the prodigious son of Haname and is considered the strongest Harukage. He saw the village through the conclusion of the Second War. Peace would ensue for a while until a new conflict erupted in the form of the . He grew famous throughout the western half of the continent. His village and had several nasty battles. An especially gruesome battle in the form of the Battle of Ochi Strait led to severe losses to Iwagakure (which combined with the war of attrition with Konoha led to the two to formulate a treaty) and Sadatake's near death. His wounds proved fatal and he died several days after the battle. Fifth Harukage Arai Yumia (ユミア荒井, Yumia Arai} has no relations to the Sanjō line. Due to Sadatake not leaving an heir, the conclusion of the Third Shinobi World War led to a civil war within Harugakure itself. The victorious side was, again, the Yumia Clan, led by Arai Yumia. He declared himself Fifth Harukage. Arai's reign proved to be the longest out of the previous Harukage, a not-so-lengthy period of 24 years, beginning from the conclusion of the Third Shinobi World War, to the allied that was held in Konoha where made his debut. Arai's reign was ended suddenly after his assassination. The assailants were determined to be from his own clan. Sixth Harukage Reina Yumia (ユミア祈菜, Yumia Reina) is the daughter of Arai. She inherited the post immediately after her father's assassination. Her reign would surpass that of her father's in length. It was during her 53-year reign that the young Nasuka Uchiha would arrive in Harugakure. She was the first Uchiha since Madara to come into Harugakure. Under Reina's guidance, Nasuka and her two friends were led into the Forest of Resplendent Flames for their training with the phoenixes. Reina would die at the age of 74, the post passed to her granddaughter, Eina Yumia. In the alternate timeline of Naruto: Shingetsu, Reina would defend her village against the invasive yōkai. She would eventually contract the chakra poisoning from the demons and die, however, not before she would entrust the protection of Harugakure to her granddaughter, Eina Yumia. Reina died with a 36-year reign behind her. Seventh Harukage Eina Yumia (ユミアアイナ, Yumia Aina) is the granddaughter of Reina. She was inaugurated after Reina's death from old age. She and Nasuka Uchiha were in a master-student relationship before her inauguration. She is the current Harukage and is rumored to be the strongest of them all, known worldwide as the Witch of the Resplendent Flames (燦火先の鬼女, Sanhisaki no Kijō). In the alternate timeline of Naruto: Shingetsu, Eina inherited the post of Harukage from her grandmother. Her reign would last for 38 years before she succumbed to the same illness her grandmother had. Her death left a power gap due to her extremely dumb mistake of not leaving an heir. As a result, Harugakure was again thrown into chaos, an event that mirrors the bloody interim between the reigns of the Fourth and Fifth Harukage. Eighth Harukage Main article - Yuzuha Minagami Ten years of civil war raged through Harugakure before three young genin put a stop to it. Yuzuha seized control of the post and forcefully united Harugakure under her rule. Known as the Young Lady of the Golden Dust Blade (砂金の刃少女, Sakin no Yaiba Shōjo), she wields her family's Bloodline Selection, the Dust Release. She is also a user of the Phoenix Sage Mode as she had gone to train in the Forest of Resplendent Flames after successfully bringing Harugakure under her control.